Holding Grudges
by rock-itpop
Summary: When you're a Seeker, all you have to do is avoid the Bludgers and keep your eye on the Golden Snitch. When you're Lily Luna, and you have a crush...  LilyxOC, title subject to change, T for later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: **When you're a Seeker, all you have to do is avoid the Bludgers and keep your eye on the Golden Snitch. When you're Lily Luna, and you have a crush ,all you have to do is avoid the boy and keep your eyes _off_ him. Lilycentric, LilyxOC, ScorpiusxRose is mentioned.

"Rose, how many times do I have to tell you?" I ask exasperatedly. "I do not want to go out with any your friends, thank you very much."

Rose and I had run around in this particular circle many, many times before. I wasn't interested in boys, I preferred to focus on Quidditch and my schoolwork. Besides, a boyfriend at this point would just complicate things, my O. W. Ls are coming up. I have explained this to my cousin at least ten times, but she is determined. Well, now that she's dating Scorpius she's determined.

"And aren't your friends all seventh years, anyway? Albus wouldn't be too thrilled if he found out I was dating a seventh year." Rose and I were sitting in my dorm; she had plunked herself down on my scarlet bedspread, leaving me to sit on Alice's beside it. Her roommates didn't like it when I was in the Ravenclaw dorms, so usually Rose and me hung out in my home-away-from-home.

"Not all of them. There's a few that are actually fifth years like you. I know them from the Quidditch team." Rose has it all; the good looks, the gorgeous red hair (not orange, like mine), the good grades, the perfect boyfriend, and she was captain of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team.

"So who is this poor bloke that's supposedly perfect for me this time?" I ask with a raised eyebrow. The last date I had been coerced into going on turned out to be a bit of a disaster. I still had Post Traumatic Stress Disorder-style flashbacks. (I was in Muggle Studies, and my professor had gotten very off-topic and started to talk about PTSD. It was good fun.) The last boy I had been set up with was a Hufflepuff named Dylan, a sixth year. All he wanted to talk about was my dad, and he was terribly rude to me.

"Aw, come on Lils. Have an open mind," my cousin says, pretending to pout. She's really good at that. Pouting, I mean. She does it a lot, to get people to do what she wants.

I lean over, nearly falling off Alice's bed, and flick Rose on her cheek. "Stop that. I do have an open mind, that's why I asked," I point out. "Just tell me this guy's name?"

Rose pauses for a second. "…Joseph Wood," she mumbles.

Oh, bloody Hell. Joseph Wood is the opposite of perfect for me. And that's what I tell Rose. "Merlin, Rose. Just because we both like Quidditch! Have you forgotten what he did to me when we were kids at my mum's Quidditch match?"

His dad, the famous Oliver Wood, coached the Holyhead Harpies for a while. We were both at a match, him with his mum and older sister and me with my dad and brothers. After the match, our parents took us onto the pitch to congratulate the team on yet another win. A photographer from the Prophet wanted a picture with the coach and the star player and their children. We all gathered and smiled, and just as the picture was taken, Joseph tripped me, sending me face first to the ground. Worst of all is that the Prophet published the photo anyway. So my humiliation was on the front page.

"Seriously, Lily? He's apologised for that roughly six billion times, and you guys were seven!" Rose exclaims, throwing her hands in the air in frustration. "He fancies you, I know he does by the way he looks at you. When we played Gryffindor last week, he wasn't even trying to find the Snitch, he was just staring at you."

"He was dazzled by my amazing Quidditch skills," I quip. "That's probably why he got hit with that Bludger." If there's one thing I'm good at, it's holding a grudge.


	2. Chapter 2

I kick Rose out of my dorm shortly after that. Joseph? Not a chance. He's a bit of a git. And anyway, Alice fancies him. Which means he's off limits. I frown, thinking of all this, and of my OWLs coming up. I don't have time for this,_ this_, ugh. Just as I think that, I realize that it's morning and while Rose has a spare, I don't.

"Bollocks!" I exclaim aloud, as I check my watch to see that I've got five minutes to get to Charms. I get up, strip off my pajamas, pull on my uniform skirt, and pull my button up shirt on on top of the tank top I wore to bed. I put my tie around my neck but run down the stairs before I tie it.

"Bloody Hell," I mutter to myself, as I notice that I've neglected to put socks on, and my legs are bare. Rose really has to stop coming round in the mornings, it gives me no time to do other things that I need to do. Like put on socks or tie my tie.

I run down the hallway and clatter down a set of stairs, gaining enough momentum that in the next corridor I slide around a corner and- CRASH!- smack right into someone. To my horror, I end up flat on my back, sprawled on the marble floor. My things have come out of my bag and are scattered across the floor. There's a person, the one I must've crashed into, leaning over me.

And- predictably- it's the one person I do not want to see first thing in the morning, before I've eaten and when my legs are bare and when I'm late for class. Predictably, it's Joseph Wood.

"Are you alright?" he asks, concern evident in his voice. He seems to be peering into my eyes, to check for a concussion or something. _Ugh. _

"I'm fine," I say through gritted teeth. "Get. Off." At this, Joseph looks sheepish. He stands up, thankfully taking his face away from mine. He offers me a hand and I grudgingly take it, allowing him to help me to my feet.

"Thanks," I mutter, bending down to pick up my strewn things. I can feel his eyes on me. I wonder why, before remembering the lack of socks or tights. I can feel myself blushing, and curse those Weasley genes of mine. I see him about to pick up something that must've fallen out of my bag, and my heart stops.

It's the note. The note that Alice and I were passing in History of Magic yesterday. The one that discusses her crush on Joseph. The one that could mean her inevitable embarrassment and her never forgiving me.

Everything seems to happen in slow motion. He grabs the note. He flips it over. He hands it to me without reading it, along with a few renegade quills, and I can breathe again.

"Thanks." I repeat, rushing off to Charms without another word. Theoretically, Joseph should be right behind me, since he has Charms, too. But the corridor is empty except for me, and I don't hear any footsteps. I don't have time to wonder about where's he's gone, I slide into my seat next to Alice just as Professor McLaggen turns around.

"Late again, Miss Potter," he says in a strict tone. I know that a lot of the girls in my class think he's dreamy, but honestly I can't see it. That might be due to all the stories my Aunt Hermione has about him, though.

"I know. You can blame Miss Weasley, Professor."

He laughs, and repeats his usual reply. "Which one?"

He gives us a short lecture on Summoning Charms, during which I totally zone out and write notes to Alice.

_I literally ran into that boy of yours earlier. _

This earns me a glare from Alice, who is actually trying to take notes.

"Not interested in your boy, then? Or the fact that I'm dishonouring the Potter name by going sockless with my skirt and not properly tying my tie or buttoning my shirt? Or the fact that Rose is on one of her missions again?"

Speaking of... I look around the room for Joseph, and spot him sitting directly across the room from me. And he's got food. So that's what he must've been doing. He showed up late this morning.

With a smile, I discreetly take my wand out and point it in his direction. "Accio toast," I mutter, and sure enough, the piece of toast that Joseph was about to bite into comes toward me. I catch it, making eye contact with him and smirking before taking a bite. He just smiles back, and I wink.

For some reason, this makes Alice angry. She sighs in a seemingly exasperated fashion and slams her book shut.

"Miss Longbottom!" McLaggen exclaims sharply. "Explain yourself. I will not tolerate you disrupting this class."

Alice clears her throat, as if preparing to recite a monologue. "I think I should have permission to leave class early today. Due to the fact that my best friend," she glares at me, "has betrayed me."

My eyes widen, and I probably look like the proverbial deer caught in the headlights. "What? Alice, is this about that stupid boy?" I can't help but glance at Joseph, who is looking anywhere but at me or Alice. "It's not my fault he likes me!" I've known about Joseph's crush since last year, but I was hoping it would just go away if I ignored it. I've had no such luck.

To my embarrassment, the class starts to laugh. I can feel my cheeks turning cherry red for the second time that day, and the eyes on me. I look at the rest of the students defiantly. Daring them to say something to me or to Joseph, who can't even look at me, who is blushing almost as hard as I am.

Not that I care about him. I just don't want to be dragged into the teasing.

That's what I tell myself, at any rate.

I can't wait for classes to be over, especially after Alice storms out.

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><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>I am so sorry this took so long, my computer crashed and I lost the chapters I'd written. So. Here's the next chapter, I'm sorry for the wait! Also, a link to my next gen cast (ie the characters featured in this story) can be found on my profile.


	3. Chapter 3

"You really screwed things up, didn't you, Lil?" Teddy asks me as soon as I sit down for dinner. I stare at him blankly, waiting for some kind of explanation. Ted and me are close, he's like another older brother, but bloody hell, can he get on my nerves. Though he's already graduated, and is an assistant professor now, he still sits at the Gryffindor table with a good two thirds of the Weasley clan.

"I overheard Alice gossiping to one of your little friends in my class today," he explained. I don't take Ted's subject; Arithmancy just isn't my thing. Alice adores it, though.

I sigh, looking down at my food miserably. It doesn't seem appealing at all now that I know that my best friend is angry with me. "I didn't do anything, Teddy. Honest." I really didn't! Alice just has a hard time controlling her temper.

At that very moment, Fred sits down next to me. "I sincerely doubt it, Little Red," he says, chuckling. Of course, all of my cousins know about the pranks Hugo and I pull on a regular basis. And that's probably what Fred assumes we're talking about.

I stand up, irritated with my cousin and godbrother. More irritated with myself, though, for ticking off Alice. I don't want to talk about this with them. My friend drama and boy issues should be none of their concern. I walk away, just barely hearing Fred ask "What's got her knickers in a twist?" as I go.

I know I can't go to my own common room, because Alice might be there and I'm almost certain that she wouldn't let me explain the fact that I wasn't flirting, and I was only blushing from embarrassment, and that I would never do anything to hurt her...

So instead I go down to the quidditch pitch, where Alice wouldn't be caught dead. She hates flying, which has always been a source of befuddlement for me. There's nothing I love more than being up in the air, the feeling of the wind on my face, the feeling of lack of solid ground beneath my feet, and the feeling of my fingers closing around the Golden Snitch.

I climb the stands, sitting in the topmost row. The Ravenclaw quidditch team is practicing, but I don't mind. It's calming for me, just sitting here. I catch Rose's eye and offer her a grin, and she smiles back. She's the captain, so you'd think she'd be intolerant of others sitting in on their practices. But she isn't. Not like Fred, who took over for Gryffindor after James graduated. Fred is crazy about his team, he'll yell at anyone who interrupts practices, and he does his best to keep us in line. Which, of course, we complain about incessantly. I know we could have it worse, though. According to Dad, Oliver Wood was even tougher on his team than Fred is on us.

I'm snapped out of these thoughts by the sound of splintering wood. A Bludger narrowly missed my head, smashing through the planks of wood behind me, making a hole in the stands. It's quickly followed by a sheepish looking Joseph Wood.

"Are you alright, Lily?" he asks for the second time in a 24 hour period, hovering near me on his broom. I nod curtly, looking into his brown eyes for only a moment. "I'm sorry," he continues. "I'm a rubbish Beater, but that cousin of yours insists on making me play Beater during our scrimmages."

I manage a reluctant smile, and he repeats "Sorry," before flying away again. My heart seems to have sped up, and I try to convince myself that it was the fright, and not the large brown eyes that had met mine for so brief a moment. _Stop it, Lily, _I think to myself, scolding.

A little while later, I make my way back up to the castle with the Ravenclaws, who don't seem to mind my company at all. I stick to the back of the group, walking beside Joseph in silence. Rose keeps glancing at me, raising her eyebrows suggestively, and I scowl back at her.

When we reach the staircase, I look at Joseph, pausing for a moment. He stops on the step above the one I'm on, looking at me quizzically. "I'll see you tomorrow. I'm sorry about that whole fiasco in Charms today," I say finally, and I mean it. I hate that I embarrassed him, even though I find him too irritating for words a good ninety percent of the time. He doesn't say a word, just smiles at me and turns to walk away up the staircase that will take him to his dormitory.

It's been a week since the morning of the stolen toast and the overreaction to it. Alice is talking to me again, thankfully. It took her a few days, during which I only had my cousins for company. Not that that is such a horrible thing, but a girl does need some friends that aren't blood relatives.

I'm sitting in the library, with Lucy and Molly across the table from me. They're the only twins of the Potter/Weasley family, though they are far from identical. They're third years, and actually pretty adorable, if you ask me.

"Okay, so the thing you have to remember about Boggarts is that it's best to have at least one other person with you, to confuse it." Lucy writes this down in her notes, and Molly is just sort of staring into space. Uncle Percy asked me to tutor them, even though DADA is more of Al's thing; Potions is what I'm best at. Albus doesn't have patience with Molly's mucking about, though.

Just as I'm about to gently nudge Molly, to try to get her head out of the clouds, someone does it for me. Gets her head out of the clouds, I mean, not nudges her. Alice comes bounding into the library, a Cheshire cat grin on her face.

"Lily!" she squeals, causing my littlest cousin to jump, and whirl around to face Alice, clearly bewildered. Alice isn't deterred, though. "Lily! Oh Merlin, Lily, you won't believe what's just happened!"

I like seeing her happy, so I smile in spite of myself. "What, Alice?" I ask, almost excited.

"Joseph asked me to the ball!" she practically shouts, and my grin fades. _But... why? He doesn't even fancy her! _I tell my brain to shut up, and carefully compose a smile, so Alice won't suspect anything. Why do I feel the way I do? Angry... jealous, almost.

The ball's in a couple weeks, the fifth of November. I don't have a date, up until now I had been counting on going with Alice.

"That's great, Alice!" I exclaim, feigning enthusiasm. I'm still a bit puzzled as to why I have to fake the enthusiasm, though. I should be happy for her. My best friend got asked out by the boy she likes! This is fantastic news! ...Isn't it?

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><p><strong>AN: **Thank you for the lovely reviews! I appreciate it very, very much, it motivates me to keep writing when I know there's people reading.


	4. Chapter 4

I'm having one of those nights; I can't sleep no matter how hard I try. Alice fell asleep almost the second her head hit the pillow, and Jocelyn and Joy had conked out not long after.

Jocelyn and Joy are the Patil twins, and they really keep to themselves, though Alice and I are friendly with them. The other two I share a dormitory with, Florence and Susan, are gone again. None of us are really certain where they _go _all the time; we've spent countless hours coming up with theories.

I get tired of staring up at the ceiling, and quietly get out of bed. I grab my wand from the bedside table, and the Invisibility Cloak from my trunk. On nights like this, I'm incredibly grateful that my dad gave the cloak to me instead of to James or Albus. Ideally, I would have the Marauders' Map tonight, too, but it's not my week with it. We share it between the cousins (and Ted), and Louis has it right now. I suppose I could go wake him up, but last time I did that he was less than pleased.

So I put the cloak on, and rush down the stairs before quietly slipping out of the portrait hole. The Fat Lady stays asleep. I carefully make my way down the stairs, stepping softly and carefully so my feet stay covered and so I don't attract the attention of the prefects or Filch. I choose my steps carefully, making sure to hop over the vanishing stair. After sneaking out of my dorm so many times, it was sort of routine, but still a bit of a thrill.

I turn down the hallway that will lead me to the kitchens, and reach out to tickle the pear on the painting. I walk in, expecting it to either be empty except for the house-elves, or that Dom and Anne might be in here, since they're both Hufflepuffs and it's way easier for them to get to the kitchen without getting caught, since it's just down the hall, and they're always around when I go for midnight snacks.

Instead, I see the only boy I wouldn't want to see at two a.m, when I'm in baggy pyjama pants and an old Weasley jumper. "Bloody hell, he's everywhere!" I exclaim, and Joseph looks up, clearly searching for the source of the voice. I consider quietly backing out of the kitchen and running back up to my dorm. But only for a moment. Instead, I pull off the cloak, only because I know how weird it would be to hear a disembodied voice that sounded an awful lot like a classmate.

"Lily," he says, amusement written all over his stupid face. "I thought I recognised your voice."

I scoff, crossing my arms and openly glaring at him.

"I'm sensing hostility," he remarks, quirking an eyebrow.

I scowl.

"Come on, Lily, I'm just teasing. Sit down, have a cup of tea with me." He smiles at me, and I'm struck by how kind his eyes are, even though that kindness seems to be rarely directed at me. I sit down across the small table from him, the only one that isn't a replica of the tables directly above in the Great Hall, knowing how quickly I could regret this.

"I always thought that only the Weasleys knew how to get in here," I admit, looking anywhere but at him. He chuckles, and I glance at him. I feel a peculiar sensation in my stomach, and wrap an arm around my torso, trying to make it stop. It feels like... Well, like nervousness, is the only way I can describe it. I don't like it.

"You're forgetting that I'm friends with most of your cousins, Lils," he says, and I want to hex him for using that nickname. I just shake my head and roll my eyes at him, then smile at the house elf that brings me a mug.

This is how it always is with Joseph. Or Scorpius, or Lorcan, or anyone that I've known since I was a kid. We're comfortable with each other, but there's still an underlying layer of awkwardness. In a_, you knew me when I was a chubby little kid and you were there when my brother stuck my face into my birthday cake and I cried _sort of way. Since his dad and my mum had been coworkers and friends for so long, the Wood family had been present at many Weasley functions. Unfortunately for me.

On one hand I am ravenously curious as to how he got down here without being spotted, but on the other hand, I've got a bone to pick with him. In the end, my aggravation wins the internal war, waged while Joseph looks at me questioningly. "So, you asked Alice to the ball," I state. It's not a question, and he knows that.

"We're getting right into that, huh? Alright," he shrugs, and his nonchalance makes me feel a twinge of annoyance. I frown and cross my arms, looking at him defiantly.

"I would like an-"

He interrupts me. "An apology?" he taunts, raising his eyebrows and smirking at me.

"No, you wanker," I snap. "An explanation." His expression sobers, and I almost feel bad for insulting him.

"Well, Lils. The way it happened was that _I _askedAlice 'Would you like to go the ball with me?' and _she _said 'yes'," he says, as though explaining it to a three year old.

I lean forward, reaching across the table, and tug on his hair. Just enough to hurt him a bit.

"Ow. Merlin, Lily!" he exclaims, rubbing his head.

I give him a faux sugary-sweet smile.

_We were three. It was James's birthday – or maybe it was Al's. My mum was working for his dad, she invited their family over. The kids were all in the backyard, and Joseph did something – I can't remember now what it was- to annoy me. And I pulled his hair. _

I don't why I was thinking of that now; it was my very first memory of this boy. And in it (shocker!) he was irritating me.

Now it's my turn to be nonchalant. "Don't talk down to me," I say simply. "And for your own sake, don't mess with Alice's feelings," I add darkly. I almost grab my wand from its place behind my ear, but I don't think Joseph, or anyone else, for that matter, needs reminding of how good my Bat Bogey Hex is getting. And I don't reckon that getting a detention for hexing him would be worth it.

"Who says I'm messing with her feelings?" he counters.

"I do," I reply.

I seem to have made him completely speechless. He just looks at me, mouth slightly open, as if he's about to say something. I smirk, feeling victorious. _If he isn't defending himself, it means I'm right, _says a voice in the back of my mind, but I hope it's wrong. I don't want my friend to get hurt.

I lean back in my chair, propping my feet up on the table and linking my fingers behind my head. "For those of you keeping score at home," I say in a voice that's purposely an octave lower than usual, "that's Lily, one, Joseph, zero."

He raises his eyebrows, looking at me in disbelief for just a moment before starting to laugh. "You're completely mental, you know that, right?"

I smile, as if he's just given me the world's best compliment. "I know," I laugh. "How did you get down here, anyway?" I question, curious as to how he did it without an Invisibility Cloak.

"Disillusionment charm."

"_Seriously?_" I say in disbelief, somewhat awe-struck. I know that those charms are hard to pull off, and we don't even start to learn them until seventh year. "No way."

"Nah, I'm just friends with the prefect that was patrolling tonight, I convinced him not to get me in trouble for being out this late."

"I hate you," I say, though my slight smile ruins it.

"Harsh."

"Hardly," I retort, without missing a beat.

He shakes his head at me, an amused smirk playing on his lips. I return it with a small smile of my own, in spite of myself.

This banter with him feels so utterly normal, so typical. It's sort of comforting; like having an old blanket that smells like home when you're far away. Bickering with Joseph always felt routine, and it was just what everyone else expected from us, as well. Like the time we got into an argument in Transfiguration when we were paired up for something or other and everyone stopped what they were doing to listen to us fight. Or, at the Burrow once, when the rest of the table went silent when we got into a discussion about which Quidditch team is best.

Of course, sometimes we just silently glare at each other, like when we were walking back from the Quidditch pitch a while ago. That's normal, too.

The almost nice moment is made completely awful when the door bangs open, revealing Filch standing in the doorway. I look at Joseph, panic written all over my face. His eyes are as wide as mine. We know there's no way to talk our way out of this; we know we're totally, royally, screwed.

"Evening, Mr. Filch," I say pleasantly, despite my quick heartbeat and the fear coursing through my veins, taking my feet off the table. "What brings you here?"

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><p><strong>AN:**  
>GAH, I'm so sorry guys, I know this took forever! I'll try to keep my updates more regular from now on, promise.<p> 


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